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Trusteeship, Corporate Social Responsibility & Peace

Chapter: 10

Summary and Conclusions

Introduction
The objectives of this research study are three fold - understand the
concept of Trusteeship, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Peace
and their inter-relationships; examine whether the principle of
Trusteeship can be implemented for carrying out CSR activities by
corporate world or not; and if implementable, suggest ways and means.
Peace is an ultimate quest of the human being. No one wants unrest as
there is no pleasure involved in it. Whatever one does, it does to derive
pleasure during the process or as an output of the action. Today, the peace
is the most sought after as Unrest has pervaded our life badly. The reason
for Unrest lies in existence of inequity in the society. Resources are
scarce and unevenly distributed. Some are too wealthy whereas the
majority strives for even basic needs. Such a situation has created
divides or Centres of Power in the society. The divides are in name of
caste, creed, religion, nationality etc. and hence the society is fragmented.
So, there is need for devising the tools as cure to the above problem and
ensure lasting peace in the society.
Trusteeship is answer to the above problem. The concept of Trusteeship
flows from the ideals of Aparigraha and Ahimsa. Gandhijis unique and
revolutionary approach to the phenomenon of power has also contributed
to the evolution of the concept. Trusteeship is a concept with its origin in
spirituality wherein one voluntarily relinquishes ones right on wealth
(Aparigraha) earned by him and dedicates it to the welfare for those who

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are not so privileged like him. Trusteeship was looked upon by Gandhiji
as a powerful tool to be used for alleviating economic and social disparity
and ultimately establishing lasting peace in the society. The infusion of
the sense of Trusteeship in a persons mind is a beginning of spiritual
journey which will end in self- realization of oneself. Without invasion of
spiritual thoughts, one cannot understand and implement it.
Trusteeship principle could be applied at individual as well as corporate
level. Corporate World draws its resources material or human from
the society. It grows and develops due to support from the society and its
environment. In brief, every corporate entity owes to the society and
must give its due back to the society. The welfare activities undertaken by
corporate world are popularly known as Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR) activities.

If CSR activities are backed by the principle of

Trusteeship, they can play miracle and bring real prosperity in our life.
Trusteeship, CSR and Peace are interrelated. Trusteeship is a principle
which should be followed by all. An individual can practice it in his own
life. He can minimize his needs and use surplus resources available with
him after meeting his required needs, for welfare of the society. Similar
logic applies with group. Group can be social group or association or
corporate group/company. If CSR activities of a company are guided by
Trusteeship Principle, the overall Well being Index of its employees is
likely to be higher than those companies which do not carry out CSR
activities at all or carry out CSR activities not guided by Trusteeship
Principle. CSR activities of such companies based on Trusteeship
principle is likely to contribute to bringing and maintaining peace in the
society.

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The study of original Literature of Trusteeship authored by Gandhiji is a

spiritual concept and is not easy for all to digest. Its practice is even more
difficult. Trustee (one who practices Trusteeship) in true sense of the term
will have no extra possessions than is required to fulfill his basic needs.
In fact, Trusteeship requires purification of soul and should be practiced
on individual level first. Unless the individual soul is purified,
Trusteeship at Group level will be next to impossible. A group is made of
individuals. If the individual forming the group is not pure, the group,
too, cannot claim purity. Trusteeship in its true form will exist only when
an individual intending to practice it attains self realization which in turn
means understanding his relation with God. The great souls like Buddha,
Mahavir, Jesus Christ, Prophet Mohhammad, practiced the principle of
Trusteeship in their lives. They are said to be incarceration of God. They
minimized their materialistic needs and lived lives for others. The people
who do not know the purpose of their being on this earth and live a life in
pursuit of materialistic aspirations only, cannot understand and appreciate
the principle of Trusteeship. Earth has been full of such people and hence
adoption and practice of Trusteeship is a rare phenomenon as it requires
fundamental change in thought and action which is possible only when
the soul is awakened from deep slumber. However, it does not mean that
the Principle of Trusteeship should be discarded. It may not be adopted
fully but process must commence. Efforts must be initiated to know the
true self and its relation to various components of the nature. Such an
effort will bear fruit and process of purity of soul will commence. If
sincere efforts are put into, soul will be more purer day by day and the
principle of Trusteeship will percolate down into his life effortlessly.
Trusteeship will become is a way of life for pure soul.

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Corporate Social responsibility is a western management concept. CSR

for them is a business concept. Since they get their resources from the
society and nature and hence, it was deemed fit that they must give back
their due to the society, too. Trusteeship Principle is not yet understood
by West as the West is outward looking. One has to do inward journey to
understand the concept of Trusteeship. If the concept of trusteeship is
amalgamated with good CSR practices, there would be no harm to the
employees working with a company, their customers, society in general
and environment. However, it is an ideal situation which cannot be
achieved. But sincere efforts need to be made to move in the direction.
Peace as described above is a dynamic phenomenon. It is to be linked
with developmental activities. A company following good CSR practices
based on the principle of Trusteeship would take care of its people,
customers, society and environment and would do no damage to anyone
and hence, it would receive co-operation from all and there would be
peace all around.

Approach
Based on the review of literature, following hypotheses were proposed
and tested for the purpose of research:
Trusteeship has positive co-relationship with spirituality.
Trusteeship is the purest tool for CSR activities.
Trusteeship and peace complement each other.
As a whole, information was collected from both the sources, i.e. primary
as well as secondary. The primary sources of information are the
stakeholders including the staff/employees of the corporate entities
chosen for case studies. Similarly, secondary sources of information are

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the published / unpublished reports / documents available with Gujarat

Vidyapith/city libraries and data available on internet.
Interview Schedules have been used for collection of information from
corporate entities under study.

Case Studies
In depth case studies were carried out. The organizations covered have
been chosen from reputed corporate groups. Three cases have been
selected TATA Group, EXCEL Group and Infosys. TATA represent
Old group of industries. Infosys belongs to Modern group and EXCEL
stands between Old and Modern. The information about these
companies have been collected from their annual reports, data available
on internet and discussion with their employees/stakeholders. The efforts
have been made to understand the concept they have about trusteeship,
corporate social responsibilities and their interrelationship. The objectives
of companies behind CSR activities have been discussed. Their
experience in implementation of CSR activities and their impact on
overall peace in society have been discussed. The share of their net profit
for CSR activities, too, has been analysed.

TATAs: As a global benchmark for CSR and a pioneer of the concept in

India, the Tata group has adopted social responsibility as one of its
integral values and the group has made concerted efforts to link it with
the group's overall strategy for achieving business excellence. Besides
undertaking CSR initiatives through its various companies, the Tata
group has been actively involved in facilitating the development of this
concept in India by setting standards and benchmarks. Moreover, Tata
Group has adopted participatory approach in the matter of CSR as
depicted in the above diagram

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The dedicated CSR efforts by various Tata group companies have been
globally recognized. The different group companies have received several
awards for their fulfillment of social responsibility. For instance, TISCO
was awarded 'The Energy Research Institute (TERI) award for Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR)' for the fiscal year 2002-03 in recognition of
its corporate citizenship and sustainability initiatives. As the only Indian
company trying to put into practice the Global Compact principles on
human rights, labor and environment, TISCO was also conferred the
Global Business Coalition Award in 2003 for its efforts in spreading
awareness about HIV/AIDS..
CSR by TATA can be summarized in words of Late JRD Tata as under:
"The wealth gathered by Jamsetji Tata and his sons in half a century of
industrial pioneering formed but a minute fraction of the amount by
which they enriched the nation. The whole of that wealth is held in trust
for the people and used exclusively for their benefit. The cycle is thus
complete; what came from the people has gone back to the people many
times over."

Excel Group: As per Shri Kantisen Shroff, Chairman Emeritus of

Excel Group, the seeds of Excel were planted way back in 1945 as
Kitchen Laboratory by Late Chaturbhai Shroff, and today the Group has
eight manufacturing plants

strategically spread over the country in

Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Silvassa. The operations of

Excel Industries Limited are currently organized into two major divisions
Agrochemical division and Industrial Chemical Division. Since 2002,
these divisions are separate companies known as Excel Crop Care and
Excel Industries respectively. However, community development
activities are undertaken jointly.

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Shri Kantisen Shroff is the key propelling force behind Community

development interventions by Excel. As per him, we all are inseparable
part of the planet and ecological system and hence, we all are
interconnected. We cannot behave as if we are detached from the rest of
the universe. He does not believe in completion, too. When we all are
connected to each other then completion with whom such is the
spiritual vision of Kaka behind community intervention.
Excel extended the spirit of employee voluntarism to rebuild Kutch.
Specialized staff of Excel looked into the problems of agriculture and
afforestation and decided the steps to be undertaken. The major areas
identified

were

afforestation,

employment

generation,

watershed

management, water harvesting and cattle management. The impact of

interventions on the communities in Kutch had been tremendously
rewarding. It emerged through the discussions with the local self help
groups that as early as 1990, inspired by VRTIs and Excels efforts, the
villagers built rainwater storage tanks, farm ponds and percolation tanks.
They also built check dams and recharged hundreds of wells. This
showed that people who once upon a time, were used to government
charity, realized the importance of self -reliance.
In 1980, Shri Kantibhai Shroff became MD of Excel and he wanted to
streamline and institutionalize the community development initiatives. It
was not easy for him to balance corporate and social demands. Excel
extended managerial support wherever necessary and gradually tried to
make its NGOs independent. This finally resulted into professional
management of its NGOs.
In 1995, Shri Kantisen Shroff became the Chairman of Excel and Shri
Ashwin Shroff became the Managing Director. Success did not slow

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down the pace of Excel in community development. Excel was fed on

sound values and healthy practices and they helped Excel to grow a
healthy business. The learnings that had taken place over the last four
decades in the area of community development has been rich with
experience. What began as an intervention with a social motive actually
gave Excel excellent insights to look into their business and develop
products accordingly. Today, Excel is engaged in areas like Integrated
Crop

Management,

Solid

Waste

Management

and

Microbes

Management.
In spite of what is mentioned above, company management does not
think it has done something extraordinary as Shri Ashwin Shroff puts it,
Any responsible company will do what we are doing and what is so great
about it. We have not given crores of rupees neither do we call ourselves
philanthropic. It is our enlightened self -interest which has guided us.
Yes, we have got personally involved in the process, because that is
needed to a larger extent to create an impact. It was only because of our
involvement we created an impact.

Infosys: Infosys Technologies Limited provides consulting and IT

services to clients globally in field of Client Connectivity Infrastructure
and Information Infrastructure. The company vision is to be the best
globally, commercially and ethically. As such, Infosys has developed a
C- Life principle that it aims to honour in all aspects of its business
conduct. The C-Life principle focuses on Customer Delight, Lead by
Example, Integrity and Transparency, Fairness and Excellence. Infosys
has

also developed

PSPD model

(Predictability,

Sustainability,

Profitability and De-risking) that ensures high standards for all

stakeholders. This has resulted into development of strong management

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system to guarantee accountability at all times with procedures in place

for grievances and such things.
One of the core values of Infosys is a strong sense of social responsibility
and is a commitment to help people and communities, a commitment to
enhance the living conditions of rural population and a commitment to
improve education. It has moved from charity and dependence to
empowerment and partnership in their own interest. The middle class
founders of the mega-successful Infosys believes that wealth must be
equally distributed.
Infosys assumes corporate social responsibility both at company level and
foundation level.
The social initiatives of the company have taken the form of projects,
philanthropy and employment initiatives. Community Services is an
example of project work specifically to IT education to rural children and
teacher training.
The Foundation has adopted a policy of distributing funds based on
Infosys Technologies employee strength in different states of India.
Accordingly, Karnataka gets 70%, Maharashtra gets 15%, Orissa gets 5%
and Tamil Nadu gets 10%. The Foundation is committed to giving 30%
of its fund to senior citizens, the destitute and handicapped, 15% for rural
development, 30% for the education of talented but poor children, 15%
for cultural activities and 10% for health activities in villages and cities.
However, such a policy of distribution of fund based on employees
strength as well as the allocation with in a state for different activities is
debatable.
Infosys Technologies advocates and participates in a wide array of
activities aimed at enhancing business-community relations. The creation
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of Foundation has been instrumental in conducting much of this work.,

although the company itself has contributed in more than just monetary
terms. Employment practices, environment concerns and research
partnerships serve to illustrate that business-community relations in India
are, to a certain extent, beyond philanthropy.
Furthermore, these initiatives have not been to the detriment of the
companys profits as the many awards for Best Company reveal.

Analysis
The case studies have revealed that the propelling force/personality
behind CSR activities were leaders with high spiritual quotient. TATAs
were creators of wealth and at the same time, they invested part of their
wealth in creating world class social infrastructure. They established
world class institutions. They gave new definition to CSR and made
business ethics as part of their CSR activities. They paid great attention
on aspects of HRD, quality and society around them. It is highly
satisfying that over 75 per cent of TATA trust's funds come from
dividends on the shares it owns in Tata Sons, the group's holding
company. The remaining comes from their own statutory investments. It
proves that TATAs never aimed to become rich men on this earth. Also,
TATAs have been great advocates of Industrial peace. Hardly, we hear of
lockouts, strikes etc., in case TATA group of Industries. TATAs, it
appears, believed in paying back to the society. Their thoughts were
closer to the principle behind Trusteeship. They appear to be
people/organizations with high SQ and strong practitioner of the principle
of Trusteeship. They are in fact pioneers of CSR activities in India and
prove all three the hypotheses as stated hereunder, true:
Trusteeship has positive co-relationship with spirituality.

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Trusteeship is the purest tool for CSR activities.

Trusteeship and peace complement each other.
Excel Group of Industries cannot match their CSR activities with those of
TATAs. But they have grass root experience in community work. Shri
Kantisen Shroff is a man of vision with high spiritual quotient. Their
community activity commenced at family level, then they established
Trusts and now, they have integrated their CSR activities as part of their
business activities. It is great journey in CSR. Shri Kantisen Shroff - a
man with excellent vision, institutionalized the CSR activities as part of
business vision of Excel. Excel, too, enjoys excellent employee relations
and there is sense of voluntarism on the part of Excel employees for
community work. Excel, too, proves all three hypotheses true.
Infosys is a modern corporate entity and does not have past history like
TATA and Excel. Their CSR activities are not as old as those of TATA
and Excel. However, they have made tremendous effort in community
service. Mrs. Sudha Murthy a lady with big heart and a great desire to
serve underprivileged, played a pivotal role in CSR activities of Infosys
as head of Infosys Foundation. In Infosys, too, employee voluntarism is
encouraged and appreciated. Since nineties, Infosys Foundation, too, has
carried out commendable services in field of CSR.

Conclusion
To conclude with, CSR should be inbuilt into the functioning of various
activities of corporate sector. It should be a way of life for them. In more
revealing words, CSR does not mean earning money by hook or crook
and diverting portion of it as tax saving measures or otherwise in name of
welfare activities. Such an approach is against the vision of Mahatma
Gandhi who considered CSR as an ethical act. Ethics calls for purified

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mind resulting into purified thoughts which would result into purified
actions. So, purity must be in the beginning, during the process and at the
end with all CSR activities. There are various activities such as design,
planning, production, commercial, HRD, quality assurance to be
performed by a company in corporate sector. Performing all these
activities in a right manner at the right time by the right people will result
into right product meeting the requirements of customers. Such
companies will be truly socially responsible, and would not hesitate in
diverting a portion of profit for public good.
All employees of corporate body should be trained and re-trained on ongoing basis to enhance their spiritual quotient. Enhancement of Spiritual
Quotient (SQ) is the need of hour. The actions of an organization/a
corporate body with low SQ will not bring lasting advantage to itself as
well as the society at large.
One should love the job one does. One loves the job only when he derives
pleasure during the process of performing the various tasks involved in
the job. If one gets pleasure during the process of the job, he gets
emotionally involved with the job, too. If one is emotionally involved
with the job, the quality will be the natural outcome. The quality should
be the concern for all. Whatever one does, should be done in the best way
possible, which happens when one does the job with ones soul deeply
involved in the process. Emotional involvement of soul into the job is
nothing but spirituality i.e Dharma. For Gandhiji, Spirituality was not
different from Dharma. Looking after the family is Dharama and one
should carry out this job with religious fervor. However, Looking after
the family should not be the reason for accumulation of wealth. This is
not dharma. Most of the people are not Dharmic as they do Adharma
knowingly or unknowingly everyday. Adharma brings unhappiness.

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Dharma brings happiness but one needs to lead a life of truthfulness to

remain dharmic. In view of what is aforesaid, all training programmes of
corporate bodies should be guided by the above mentioned principles.
Framing Code for good CSR practices requires extensive deliberations
among various stakeholders. The key stakeholders are management of
corporate entity/body, employees of corporate body, government
regulatory authority, members of community and Non-Governmental
organizations. A professional consultancy organization, too, may be
involved in the exercise. Spiritual leader/organization, too, may be
involved in the process to ensure that ethical considerations are given due
weightage in framing of good CRS code.
Although the forced changes do not bring lasting solution, there is need
for consensus on basic objectives and purposes of CSR and common
strategy for the same. Once this consensus is achieved, law makers can
work for necessary amendment in Companies Act and CSR may be made
compulsory for all corporate citizens (provided they have profit). Such
legal sanctity may boost CSR activities in the country. The suitable
provisions may be made in the Companies Act, 1956 (and amendments
thereafter) to make CSR mandatory for all companies and certain
percentage (say 1 to 3%) of net profit may be earmarked for the CSR
activities.
Government, Business Associations (CII, FICCI etc.), Spiritual
organizations, Gandhian Institutions and other social organizations may
come together to form the lasting strategy for effective CSR and decide
modus operandi for the same.
Only backward areas should be earmarked for CSR activities. Such area
villages/ taluka/district should be adopted by reputed corporate body or a
cluster of corporate bodies. However, they must be supported by

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Government Agency, too. It would be ideal if government fund is

supplemented by fund provided for CSR activities by corporate bodies. It
will have synergic effect. Such an approach would be in line with
Gandhian Principle of Trusteeship. However, the association should be
voluntary. Non- Governmental Organizations (NGOs), too, may be made
party to such association. All three agencies Government or their
Agencies, NGOs and Corporate bodies, will work together to make the
society prosper.
Trusteeship principle does not aim at making one rich. It is against the
principle of Trusteeship Principle of Gandhiji. He never wished
inequality to be promoted in the society. So, CSR should be looked upon
as an instrument for reduction of inequality. Under CSR, the corporate
bodies are encouraged to use their excess wealth for the welfare/benefit
of poor masses. CSR should not be viewed as an act of pity on behalf of
rich corporate bodies but it should be treated as an essential duty on their
behalf. Only such approach will bear real fruits and bring benefit to the
society. The act of pity would enhance the inequality gap which already
exists between the poor and the rich. Such an approach would bring stress
and conflict in the society. So, peace and happiness should be the real
purpose behind CSR and not the materialistic prosperity. This asks for
change of attitude on part of corporate bodies and it will happen only
when spiritual quotient is enhanced.

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